The Bourne Legacy (Post-release)

[CB2001]

I saw it earlier today while my parents went to see The Dark Knight Rises (which I am honestly not interested in watching at all). Honestly, I enjoyed it and thought it was a good movie. It wasn't as great as the first film, but it's pretty decent.

I not only like the tie-in moments (such as hearing about the events of Supremacy and Ultimatum), but the thing that I like is the fact that we see the end result of Pamela Landy's attempt to expose Treadstone and Black Briar, only for it to backfire against her (basically, the old saying "no good deed shall go unpunished" made real). Honestly, from what I know, the film deviates from the book (which features Jason Bourne prominently). However, according to Wikipedia, Tony Gilroy hasn't ruled out the possibility for Damon to return as Bourne for a future installment, which would be an interesting thing to have the new guy working with Bourne.

 

[neosporing]

i was quite suprised when the movie ended where it did. I was expecting an epic fight with a toaster, book or rolled up diaper turned lethal weapon - which never happens... or was the wolf the epic bourne signature choreographed fight?

also wasn't exactly happy with the way they turned the story into science fiction, a la universal soldier... if the current story trend continues, i half expect to see a xenomorph turn up in another super secret experimental division.

on the other hand, i thought the lab shooting scene was terrifying... but that could just be due to recent events...

 

[Noeland]

Yeah, about half way through the film I thought "Oh, so he's a replicant looking for more life. She just does eyes . . ." except, that means we spend over an hour with him looking for blue pills.

I thought the story was really weak, and all the scenes with Edward Norton were just rapid fire nonsense that really didn't matter to what was happening with Cross. They were always two steps behind him, and they never knew anything more than the audience did. So, when the audience already knows what an entire cast of a film is just figuring out, that is ineffective storytelling 101.

Now, I should confess that I really dislike all the Bourne films. I am predisposed to disliking films that cut from people standing around in a computer control room talking about a scene I just watched unfold.

 

[ItalianNinja86]

This film just...bad

I liked how it opened, happening before and during the first three films

I liked how it also shows us the fallout of tread stone and black brier being exposed.

And when dude crashes his motorcycle at the end of the chase that was the highlight of this entire film.

but despite all those excellent moments

The thing that almost made me walk out of this film was the whole virus thing
it takes a virus to make these guys faster and smarter then a normal solider
when all it took for Bourne was extensive brainwashing and special forces training to make him a believable bad ass.

and to make matters worse Renner acts like a junkie needing his next hit through out the majority of the film.

And the ending that sudden ending with no resolution to anything we just witnessed well that was just the cherry on top of the sunday.

God I had such high hopes for this film. Renner was a good choice but the execution over all just fell short of even my lowest expectations.

Am I just venting over my disappointment...probably. but when I wake up from a peaceful nights sleep later today will I still feel it was just a lackluster movie...definitely

 

[CB2001]

The thing that almost made me walk out of this film was the whole virus thing
it takes a virus to make these guys faster and smarter then a normal solider
when all it took for Bourne was extensive brainwashing and special forces training to make him a believable bad ass.

and to make matters worse Renner acts like a junkie needing his next hit through out the majority of the film.

Actually, I think he suffered some sort of brain damage from the war and the virus/blue pills actually allowed him to function normally. Basically, without them, he would revert back to the semi-functional, brain-damaged soldier who could barely talk that we saw in the video interview, which is why he was needing them (maybe for other soldiers, it made them smart, but for him, it helped him to remain normal, the way he was prior to the injury). The indication of this for me wasn't just the interview video, but the fact that he was taking both the blue and green pills, and became ticked off that the green pills were no longer necessary to his regiment 8 months previously (kinda like a patient finding out that they no longer needed a certain prescription and were ticked off to find out that their doctor was still subscribing it to them when they were no longer needed).

However, I don't think the virus makes him faster or smarter, but it upped his immune system to allow for temporary increase in his healing processes and allows for his body to act normal despite his injuries (as there was the examination scene flashback where the doctor was examining his hand, which the dialogue revealed that there had been a wound on one of his hands that had healed up quickly. And he appeared to be acting normal after being shot in the leg and losing a lot of blood in the final chase, at least until the very end where he seemed to be zoned out due to the lack of blood). Honestly, that would make sense, as you have a normal soldier who ends up being injured and has to stop to patch up his wounds, only for them to continue to bother him days to weeks later, and with the virus, a soldier would have to find a place to hole up and allow for his body to heal naturally anywhere between hours to a couple of days. That's actually a better advantage than any of Jason Bourne's abilities (as we've seen him nearly get caught by police in The Bourne Ultimatum while he was patching up his injuries he sustained from the car wreck in The Bourne Supremacy. In fact, for an alternate ending to Supremacy, Jason Bourne, after visiting the girl, actually passed out from blood loss and was caught by the CIA and was in a hospital for a few days healing from his injuries when Landy comes to visit him and to offer him a chance to "come back"). Basically, a combat cocktail with a healing factor on steroids.

At least that's what I picked up from it. I could very well be wrong.

 

[ItalianNinja86]

I can kinda see what your getting at CB2001

But I think it isnt brain damage he suffers from cause he mentions at one point when he show the doctor his KIA photo that the only reason he joined the army in the first place is his recruiter added a few point to his IQ test which just allowed for the minimum required to join the service (but I to could be wrong also)

 

[CB2001]

I can kinda see what your getting at CB2001

But I think it isnt brain damage he suffers from cause he mentions at one point when he show the doctor his KIA photo that the only reason he joined the army in the first place is his recruiter added a few point to his IQ test which just allowed for the minimum required to join the service (but I to could be wrong also)

Well, I think he had a bit of an average intelligence (for all we know, he may have been a stoner or someone who just wasn't into learning and ended up getting low grade point averages), but it's heavily implied that the brain damage he sustained was what caused him to start with the pills/virus, because he could barely speak clearly like he can throughout the movie during that interviewing scene. Like I said, I could be wrong with my interpretation.

 

[Bonanza]

I do not believe they are using the success of the first 3 movies to sell this one. This new movie is just a continuation of the ongoing film storyline. Legacy is the 4th.

Yet the movies should not be confused with the original books. There are a total of 10 Bourne stories; the first 3 were written by Robert Ludlum and adapted into movies with Matt Damon. An additional 7 stories have been written by Eric Van Lustbader following the death of Ludlum, with the permission of his estate, beginning with Legacy.

The books reflect completely different storylines / timelines than the movies. I managed to purchase the complete collection of paperbacks fairly cheaply, but haven't read them yet. I have identified The Bourne Identity has Jason remembering the grassy knoll in Dallas when Kennedy was shot and working with Carlos the Jackal who is now hunting Bourne. In scanning The Bourne Legacy, David Webb is working at Georgetown University as a linguistics professor and Conklin is still alive. There is no reference to chems.


The only thing the movies have in common with the books is some of the characters and situations.